Storage of mechanical energy.



Patented July 9, 90|.

c. STEINER. STORAGE 0F MECHANICAL ENERGY.

A UE,

(Application led Mar. 11. 1901-) (No Model.)

NiTnD STATES PATENT OFFICE.,

CHARLES STEINER, OF SAULT STE. MARIE, MICHIGAN.

STORAGE OF MECHANICAL ENRGY.'

SPEGIFECATION forming part of Letters Patent-No. 678,141, dated July 9, 1901.

' Application filed March 11, 1901. Serial No. 50,707. (No model.)

.To all whom t may concern/.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES STEINER, of Sault Ste. Marie, county of Chippewa, State of Michigan, have invented an Improvement in the Storage of Mechanical Energy, which improvement may be used either in connection with local power distribution or combined with long-distance power transmission, of which the following is a specification.

The requirements of the consumption of mechanical energy do not generally coincide in time and amount with the economical maximum output of mechanical energy as it can be realized from some natural sources, such as water, wind, or wave power. Power storage is therefore desirable. The purpose of this invention is to supply this requirement in a better manner than has been realized or described heretofore; and the object of novelty consists, chiey, of the inclosure of a water and air tight reservoir or chamber serving as a hydraulic accumulator to be built under ground at considerable depth within a solid bank of natural rock. Two dierent mediums-water and air-both preferably under very high pressure, are to be used in this accumulator of'motive power. '.The water or power transmitting medium is to be pressed into and drawn off from the lower portion of said chamber according to requirements, and the air filling the upper portion of the same will be supplied naturally out of the incoming water which has been put under pressure or may be artificially filled in as far as required by means of a pipe connection from a pump.

Whereas the pressure-accumulators for hydraulic storage of energy have necessarily been till now for comparatively low pressure and have been simply strong metallic tanks wherein the metal walls had to confine the fluid as well as. to resist all the strains caused therein by the interior pressure, in my invention, on the contrary, the interior pressure is transmitted onto the rock, and the metal is of suoli a thickness only as will be sufficient to make it Water and air tight. This thickness accordingto experienceis onlyasmall fraction of an inch for pressures amounting` to thousands of pounds per square inch. Huge reservoirs for enormous pressure may thus be constructed according to this invention and obtained.

Figure l of the drawings represents an accumulator of simpler construction for lower pressure and Fig. 2 represents one of more complicated construction for higher pressure, both being cross-sectional views. Fig; 3 shows the end portion of the former in a longitudinal sectional view.

Similar letters indicate similar parts.

A B C D E represent in single lines three anpaccumulator of vast capacity economically or more mantles completelyinclosing and surrounding the accumulator-chamber, of indefinite shape, except at inlets and outlets, as hereinafter mentioned. These mantles are to be made of rolled sheet metal, preferably steel, to be riveted or welded together, as may be preferred. Y

F G H are layers of concrete or other suitable and cheap filling material.

I and K represent two interspaces between plates, which are to be filled completely with water, except as for the supports, as hereinafter described. y Y L represents above stays or supports between plates. They are necessary for erection and during such times when the Water is to be withdrawn from K and I for the purpose of repairs or otherwise, but may be reinforced to transmit the whole interior pressure. They may be metal, stone, sand, or gravel.

M and N are feeders or pressure-water inlets, which may be one or more in number and can be opened and closed.

O and P are pressure-water outlets, which likewise may be one or more in number and can be opened and closed.

Q is a connecting-pipe with a power-trans mission conduit U, the latter conveying pressurewater for power purposes.

R is an air-pipe to furnish or withdraw air at top of chamber.

S is a Water-pipe to fill orempty the interspace'I and may be put in communication .with a feeder M or N.

T signifies the solid bank of natural rock wherein the accumulator is to be built.

As compared with present methods there is no novelty in the mannersof using this accumulator chamber. The novelty is embodied in the inclosing wall of the chamber. Two main requirements are to be met by this IOO wall-flrst, to transmit the interior pressure on the rock, and thus to prevent any remarkable tensile strain within the thin metal sheets, this being accomplished by the intermediate resistant-llers F G H and the nearly incompressible layers of water K I and the stays L; second, to form an air-tight inclesure as far as practicable and desirable. This is attained by means of the thin metallic mantles A B C D E, preferably of rolled steel, and by the inclosed layers of Water in receptacles I and K, In working order the interior receptacle or inter-space I will usually have a pressure a little higher than the inside of the accumulator. This will always be the ease as long as connection between said receptacle and the feeding pressure-Water pipe of the accumulator is established and a plentiful discharge of water from the accumulator for power purposes is arranged. However, when such discharge is disconti n ued and the accumulator is being charged the connection between the inner receptacle and feeder-pipe can be interrupted and the necessary water-pressure in the receptacle increased to the required degree by a small pressure-pump. As long as in this way in the inner receptacle a pressure slightly higher than in the accumulator-chamber is maintained the water from Iwill evidently enter the accu m ulat or-chamber through eventual small fissures left in the two inner mantles and the layer of concrete between them, and thus by means of a slight loss of work the escape of air from the accumulator through said fissures may be prevented. In the second receptaclel K the water-pressure can be in similar manner maintained at any desirable height, and one or more additional receptacles of similar construction may be built around the two first mentioned, especially for very high accumulator-pressure, and equally filled with pressure-water. It is clear that when air or water should escape by any means through fissures of several metallic mantles and the filling material between them the pressure of such escaping air or water would on its way through the many obstructions lose its intensity very considerably until it could reach the exterior mantle. Consequently it will be possible to decrease the water-pressure in the surrounding receptacles to a great extent, maintaining in the second receptacle a smaller pressure than in the first or interior and in the third receptacle a smaller pressure than in the second, the., but still keeping eventual fissures shut against escape of air or water from the accumulatorchamber. The possibility of obtaining the object in view-namely, the establishment of an air and water tight accumulator-chamber, although maintaining in the exterior receptacle a very much reduced but still sufficient water-pressure-is naturally of importance, since it Jfacilitates the water-tight construction of the exterior mantle.

Having fully described my invention, I desire to secure by Letters Patentthe following:

In a hydraulic power-accumulator with aircushion, the chamber of which is to be built under ground, within a solid bank of natural rock, the construction of the walls oi said chamber, relying for strength against interior pressure not on the tensile resistance et the steel and masonry in said wall, but on the compressive strength of the natural rock alone and such wall to consist ot a number of thin, metallic mantles, a number of layersl of concrete and pressure-water, alternatingly lling interspaces between said mantles in the manner described and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES STEINER.

W'itnesses:

H. C. MnNDnLsoN, A. McDoNALD. 

